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PSALM 114: We are God’s People

Published March 9, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Psalms 113—118 form a special group of “liturgical psalms” known as Hallel Psalms, or “The Egyptian Hallel” psalms because they have reference to the the Exodus. These psalms served a very distinct purpose; they were used at the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, and Dedication. This is the psalm that Jesus and the disciples would likely have sung before they entered the Garden of Gethsemane.

Psalm 114 is a clear call to praise the God of deliverance. In Psalm 113, He is the God who creates, sustains, and redeems. Here He is the one who delivers His people or sets His people free. Because God does this for His people, they are to praise Him. The theme of Psalm 114 is that God redeemed His people because He made a covenant with them and because He dwells with them.

The Exodus from Egypt was the most significant event in the life of Israel; little wonder they sung this hymn every year! Each generation was to recall what God did for previous generations and praise Him! Even if that person had never experienced God’s deliverance, they were to praise Him because He did it for others. God’s mighty acts are so wondrous and so life-changing, that they transcend time! You can be transformed by hearing about what God has done for others. This is the power of the Word of God! It is also why sharing your faith with others is so important. As you tell other people about what Jesus has done for you, they will be touched by your testimony. Remember the words of Psalm 107:2—

Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story…

People who know the Lord will be encouraged when they hear your story, and that same story will cause unbelievers to think and consider:

[S]o is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

So, never be afraid to “tell your story” of deliverance! All Christians have been delivered from a fate worse than Egypt; we have been delivered from the power of death, hell and the grave, and that is the story we are to tell.

I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. (psalm 89:1)

1. We are a covenant people, 114:1, 2

When Israel came out of Egypt, Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

This psalm begins like a bullet shout of a gun! The Exodus, the “birthday of Israel,” begins this Hallel psalm. God’s people were miraculously set free from “a people of foreign tongue” because God had made a covenant with them. Throughout the Old Testament, this single event is seen as the very foundation of Israel’s faith in the redemptive power of God. Just as God had redeemed or delivered His people out of Egypt, so He would continue to deliver them from all their enemies. You cannot help but notice how often that theme is repeated in the Old Testament. But redemption is also a theme that spans the Testaments, for Christ’s redemption of sinful man is the central tenet of Christianity and the essence of the Gospel. The great “scarlet cord of redemption” is what ties the Old and the New Testaments together! It’s why they can’t be separated.

The sequence of events in the life of Israel is fascinating to consider. When God first called Abraham into the Promised Land, Abraham was a stranger in the very land God had given him. In time, Abraham’s descendants had to temporarily leave that Land of Promise and go down to Egypt, where they would become a nation. Israel became a nation, not in their homeland, but in a foreign land—a land of bondage, anti-Semitism, and ungodly beliefs—where they suffered hardships and persecution. Eventually, God delivered them from Egypt in a most miraculous way on account of the covenant He made with Abraham. God never forgot that covenant; He never forgot His people even though it must have seemed like it to them. And it was after they left Egypt that He took up residence with them.

Israel became God’s “sanctuary.” In this Psalm, Israel and Judah simply denote all of God’s people, all 12 tribes. These were God’s special people, and He chose to live with them as He led them.

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5, 6)

Did you know that exact same promise was given to the Church? It’s not that God has forgotten Israel, or that He has thrown them over in favor of the Church; it’s that what God had done for Israel practically He has done spiritually for us!

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9, 10)

What a great blessing! But what a great responsibility: we are to “declare the praises of him who called us out of the darkness.” We are to tell our story.

2. What nature saw, 114:3—6

This group of verses is very poetic, and of course we don’t parts of it literally. What the psalmist is illustrating is that God’s election and deliverance of Israel had a powerful and lasting effect on the world at large. So great was what God did for His people, that even nature noticed.

The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains leaped like rams, the hills like lambs. Why was it, sea, that you fled? Why, Jordan, did you turn back? Why, mountains, did you leap like rams, you hills, like lambs?

The children of Israel crossed both a sea and a river when God set them free; literally nothing could stop them when God was leading them. But it wasn’t Israel per se that caused nature to sit up and take notice, it was the awesome display of God’s power. It was the Lord who was victorious over the power of sea. Nature opened a wide path for God’s people because God was with them. As we read this series of rhetorical questions, we see that all nature responds to the power of God in two ways: fear and joy. This is how the world always reacts to God, incidentally. Either they gladly accept Him and His Word or reject Him in fear, and sometimes that fear in manifested as anger. As to why the world reacts to God’s presence as it does, the words of John might provide the answer:

[B]ut every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:3, 4)

The world can recognize a child of God because God’s presence is in you just as He was with the children of Israel.

3. God is with us, 114:7, 8

Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.

Verse 7 begins with the word “tremble,” but the Hebrew means literally, “be in pain.” The word is used to describe acute, sharp pain, like the pain of childbirth. This how the earth reacts at the presence of the Lord. Verse 8 references an incident in Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:8—11, where God miraculously provided water for His people.

There are a couple of powerful lessons to be learned from these two verses. First, notice the repetition of “at the presence of the Lord.” It’s important for the Bible reader to take special note of repetition, especially in the Psalms. If something is repeated, it is for emphasis. In this case, the phrase is repeated because it is the climax to the entire psalm and it is the only answer to the questions the psalmist raised in verses 5 and 6:

Q: Why did the sea stop and flee?
A: Because of the presence of the Lord.
Q: Why did the Jordan turn back?
A: Because of the presence of the Lord.
Q: Why did the mountains leap like rams and the hills like lambs?
A: Because of the presence of the Lord.

Passages like this demonstrate forcefully that the Lord is truly master over all! He is the Sovereign Lord of all the universe; He is the master over all nature. And this all powerful God has chosen to freely associate with His people.

Secondly, verse 8 not only shows God’s mastery over nature, but it shows that the wonders of God never cease. The God who was able to make water flow from a rock to quench the thirst of His people still draws from nature all the blessings His children still need. There is no situation that is so hard and so inauspicious that God cannot pull a blessing out of it for a faithful believer.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

“All things” means “all things!” Not only the good things, but “all things” can be turned into a blessing for the one who faithfully serves God. The key is to remember that God is with you no matter what, and instead of seeing only the “all things,” you need to focus on the reality that God’s presence is a force to be reckoned with in your life. He, not you, has the power to give you victory in any and every situation. Sometimes, all it takes a the right perspective to make a confession of faith like Joseph did:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

Nature knows what God can do. Do you?

(c)  2011 WitzEnd

JOHN, Part 17

Published June 9, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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LOOKING FOR A FREE MEAL

John 6:22—70

The incident of Jesus walking on the water (verses 16—21) is a kind of pause in the major theme of chapter 6—Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life.  Why would John break the flow of such a major theme?   There are likely three main reasons for recounting the fascinating walking-on-water story:

  • It accounts for the change in scenery from Bethsaida, where the large crowd was fed, to Capernaum, where Jesus would give His monumental teaching on the Bread of Life.
  • It shows man’s total inadequacy in the face of adversity when left to his own resources.
  • The disciples learned a valuable lesson during the storm:  God’s presence comes to man, not only when he is engaged in worship, but sometimes at the most unexpected time and at the moment of his greatest need.

1.  Looking for Jesus, verses 22—24

The great crowd of people who had been following Jesus around and who been fed miraculously by our Lord, did not easily give up; they were determined not to lose contact with Jesus, the amazing Miracle Worker.   Since it was the next day, they were likely hungry for food again.  The people made it appear like they had followed Jesus across the lake because of who He was, but it will become apparent in the next few verses that they hoped they would get something from Him.

2.  Three questions, verses 25—34

(a)  First question:

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”  (verse 25)

It seems like the people were genuinely surprised to find Jesus on the other side of the lake, which suggests they knew nothing of the miracle of Jesus walking on the water.  This special, very private miracle was probably just for the disciple’s benefit.

Jesus’ answer to their first question was really a non-answer—

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  (verse 26)

Jesus was not being rude by side-stepping their question; He could see into their hearts and knew what they really wanted.  If this brief exchange teaches us one thing it is that regardless of what we say with our mouths, the Lord knows what we really mean!   We might as well be totally honest before the Lord when we pray since He knows our real motives anyway.  Jesus knew the motive for their search for Him was completely wrong and He would have no part of it.  This is interesting because many times in the past, in both Testaments, we see God literally condescending to meet man even when doing so was not what God originally intended.  For example, God allowed Israel to have a king, even though that was not what He wanted for them.

This time, however, Jesus’ answer is really a sharp reprimand for their worldly attitude and for completely missing the purpose of His miracle.  They were materialistic and Jesus confronted that attitude unapologetically.  The word translated “loaves” really means “fodder.”  These people had stuffed themselves yesterday and today they want to be fed again.

Verse 27 is really a brief mashal—

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.

This verse has four meanings essential for living a healthy spiritual life:

  • “Do not work for food that spoils” = Stop desiring food (bread cakes) as if physical food will meet your every need.  Food satisfies only temporarily.
  • “Work for food that endures to eternal life” = Strive for spiritual food, which is found in the Words of the Son of God.
  • “This food comes from the Son of Man” = Literally, Jesus is hinting that He will give His life for those who would believe in Him.
  • “God has set His seal of approval on the Him” = By means of the signs and wonders, the testimony of John the Baptist, the Scriptures,  and the testimony of God Himself from Heaven, Jehovah has literally “certified” that Jesus Christ really is the long-sought after Messiah.

(b)  Second question

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”  (verse 28)

This question is not as innocent as it appears on the surface, for lurking beneath their words the people were clearly asserting an attitude of self-sufficiency, as if human beings had the capability to do anything God desires!   In this context, the “works God requires” seems to mean doing what pleases God.   To Jews, gaining eternal life consisted of find the right “formula” for performing the works—good deeds and obeying the Law—in order to make God happy.

Jesus’ very enigmatic reply was simply—

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”  (verse 29)

In other words, the only way to please God is to have faith in the One He had sent.  The present tense of the verb “believe” is important because Jesus is telling His questioners that they must have faith continually; they must live a life of faith.

(c)  Third question

So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.]”  (verses 30, 31)

These verses surely reveal the hardness of the human heart in all its glory!  This is the same crowd that had been stuffed the day before when our Lord graciously fed them; today, though they have no interest in “believing” in Jesus as the Messiah, they wanted a sign.  Specifically, they want yet another sign in the form of more free food!  How many signs—how much free food do people need before they will believe and have faith in Jesus as the Son of God?  Wasn’t one big meal enough?  Will it take another?  And another?  At what point does Jesus stop giving out free food and performing signs?

His answer strikes at the heart of their problem—

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  (verses 32, 33)

The people had not only been materialistic, but also arrogant and insulting to Jesus.  They had wanted another free meal and actually compared Jesus to Moses, a man they greatly esteemed, and they concluded that Moses did a lot more than Jesus did because Moses provided free food every day, while Jesus just gave them one free meal.  At this point, Jesus set the record straight.  The so-called bread that Moses gave the Israelites did not come from Moses at all but from God.

And even that free gift of manna—bread from heaven—like the Law, was intended to foreshadow the true Bread which was to come.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.  (Hebrews 10:1)

Reading this exchange, we are reminded of the Samaritan’s woman’s exchange with Jesus back in chapter 4.  She needed water because she was thirsty and Jesus told her about the “living water” only He could provide.  To that, the woman said this—

“Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  (John 4:15)

Upon hearing about this bread from heaven, like the woman at the well, the response of the people in crowd showed they were totally deaf to what Jesus had said.

“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”  (verse 34)

3.  An explanation, verses 35—40

Since His audience was clueless as to what Jesus meant, He goes on to explain His mysterious saying.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”  (verse 35)

Continuing to use the bread metaphor, Jesus told His audience that He was the Bread to which He was referring; just as manna came down from Heaven, so also did He.  Just as manna was God’s special gift to the Israelites, so also was He.  It is noteworthy that it was God who gave the Israelites the “bread of life” and it is God who has given the same people His Son.  Those to whom the Father gave Jesus should, just as their forefathers gathered the manna, come to Jesus in faith.

The people must have been startled.  Jesus had just told the people that it wasn’t Moses who fed the Israelites in the wilderness it was God, and now He told them that He was the Bread from Heaven.  The power of this verse should not be glossed over:  only Jesus can satisfy all the needs of every human being.  “Hunger” and “thirst” are the most basic, most intrinsic of all human needs.  If Jesus can meet and satisfy those needs, are there needs He cannot meet?  Of course not!

In the Greek, Jesus’ assertion looks like this:  “I am the bread of the life.”  The definite article, missing in our English translations, is restrictive:  the life is eternal life; it is the only life that really counts.

Human beings haven’t really changed much in the last 2,000 years.  We place such a premium on this life; our temporal lives.  Most of us are very concerned about out temporal needs (and often wants) being met, rarely giving much thought to our spiritual lives.  Yet here Jesus makes it abundantly clear that His main concern is for the spiritual health of people.  Of course, He is able to meet our temporal needs and does meet them, but unlike human beings, His priority is on our eternal lives.  Perhaps if we adjusted our priorities to match His, we’d find our prayers being answered with much more regularity.

Another important feature of this verse is the present tense of the verbs “comes” and “believes,” which indicates a continued and persistent action.  The implication of this is often missed:  if we stop coming to Jesus or stop having faith in Him then our sense of need and dissatisfaction with our lives will re-surface.

There are two main themes in verses 37—40.  First, salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is available to all people, even those who may refuse to believe at the moment.   The crowd was stubbornly refusing to believe in what Jesus was saying, but He makes it clear that if they changed their minds and came to Him, He would accept them.  Second, eternal life is the gift of God to man and it is God’s will for men to come to Him.  This does not mean that all men will be saved; there is a strong caveat—

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.  (verse 40)

4.  Further explanation, verses 41—51

The Jews to whom Jesus was speaking had a problem reconciling the fact that obviously this man was human—they knew His parents!— yet at the same time He had claimed to be Bread from Heaven!  This they could not wrap their minds around.

How could our Lord meet such an objection?  First, He pointed out that it was God, not them, who took the initiative to save sinners—

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.  (verse 44)

Second, while God does the drawing, it is the responsibility of the one being drawn to look in faith on Jesus Christ, believing in His claims.  God cannot make anybody believe!  It takes an act of the will on the part of a sinner to do that.  But the reward of stepping out in faith and believing in the “impossible” is eternal life—

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”  (verse 51)

The Jews must have been appalled at that.  Jesus was not advocating cannibalism, He was simply carrying on the bread/manna metaphor.   We may wonder why Jesus was speaking in metaphors like this, for how could He expect these people to understand?  The fact is, they should have seen that Jesus was God’s full revelation to them—

It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.  (verse 45)

What was Jesus doing if not teaching them?

5.  The inadequacy of faith apart from Jesus, verses 53—59

Jesus made Himself perfectly clear, repeating the phrase “I tell you the truth.”  Having made a statement that sounded like cannibalism, He further repulsed the Jews by telling them they would have to “drink His blood” in order to gain eternal life (verses 53—56).   This sounds more than repulsive on the surface, but to the Jews who knew the Law of Moses, Jesus’ teaching had degenerated into heresy!  The Law specifically forbade the drinking of blood on penalty of being ostracized from the community (Leviticus 17:10—14).    Three times during His conversation with the crowd Jesus referred to eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  He was certainly not making having faith in Him easy for His listeners!  His teachings, which sounded so beautiful up till now, suddenly took a decidedly bizarre turn, forcing these Jews to confront their old religious beliefs and prejudices.  Had there been any Saducees in the group, as there could well have been, they would have accused Jesus of being an absolute lunatic, since He was now teaching on the resurrection of the body, something they staunchly denied.

Jesus’ progression of thought is noteworthy.  He had come into the world of human beings from the Father above to meet their spiritual needs just as the manna of the Old Testament met their physical needs.  As the people partook of the manna literally, their hunger was satisfied.  As the Bread from Heaven, Jesus could meet man’s spiritual needs only if man figuratively partook of His body.  But, here is the big difference:  the people needed the manna every day; it satisfied them only temporarily.  By partaking of Jesus’ Body, a person’s deepest and truest needs would be satisfied forever.

6.  Too much to take, verse 60—70

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

Indeed, from this point onward, the crowds the followed Jesus thinned out considerably.  It wasn’t that Jesus’ teaching was hard to understand, it was that it demanded so much of those who heard it; it carried the demands of the Cross.  Westcott observed,

It made claims on the complete submission, self-devotion, self-surrender of the disciples.

When His teachings began to demand something from His listeners many, went back—

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.  (verse 66)

As was stated earlier, human beings haven’t changed a bit in 2,000 years.  When a person is confronted with the true teachings of Christ, they are forced to make a choice, just like many in the crowd were:

  • Clearly, some of Jesus’ followers were more interested in material gain—free food—than in turning control of their lives over to Jesus (verses 26, 27);
  • Some were totally happy and content with a “comfortable” religion that demanded little of them (verses 30, 31);
  • Some, namely Judas, saw the real cost of discipleship and holiness (verses 53, 70, 71).

The demands of Jesus are the same today as they were in the days He made them.  Following Jesus is not meant to be easy; it is the hardest thing a human being can do because it means surrendering our wills to His will for us; it means being uncomfortable as we learn to exercise our faith in Him.  A lot of people flirt with Jesus; they love the free food and the fellowship they experience with God’s people, but few make it past those things into the inner chambers of true consecration, devotion, and eternal life.

(c)  2010 WitzEnd

JOHN, Part 16

Published June 2, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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John 6:1—14

Chapter 6 marks a changing point in Jesus’ career.  The chapter opens magnificently; we see huge crowds following Jesus around, hanging on His every word, impressed with His every action.   In fact, up to this point in His ministry, Jesus was generally very popular among the average folk, in spite of facing mounting opposition from religious leaders.   However, by the end of chapter 6, there is a great “falling away” of many of His followers—

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.  (verse 66)

So many of these “disciples” were enamored with our Lord’s sweet and encouraging words, not to mention the astounding miracles, but when His teaching turned deadly serious, He lost them.

This chapter more than any other chapter in any of the four Gospels reveals the kind of Messiah the people really wanted:  a man who could meet their every physical need and make them feel good. When it appeared as though Jesus fit the bill, the crowd was more than anxious to get Him to Jerusalem in order to crown Him as king.  But when it became evident to everybody that He wasn’t that kind of Messiah; that He was a spiritual Messiah who came to save people from the guilt of their sins, they just walked away, probably disappointed.

But before that happened, we read about an amazing picnic on the hillside.

1.  The setting, verses 1—4

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.  The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

This must be an important incident since it is the only miracle recorded in all the Gospels.  John does not indicate why Jesus and His disciples crossed over the sea, but Mark and Matthew do.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”   So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.  (Mark 6:30-31)

It seems that after some intense evangelistic activity, the apostles were in need of some rest, and crossing the Sea of Galilee was intended by Jesus to lead to a time of rest and rejuvenation for His friends.   Matthew indicates that around this time Jesus learned about the death of John the Baptist and no doubt all of them, Jesus and His apostles, felt the need to withdraw and figure out what to do next.

But it seems there was another, far more ominous reason for getting away from the crowds with His friends.  The time had finally come for the apostles to learn the truth about Jesus’ mission.  His was a mission that would end in His death and with the enemies of Christ increasing in number, the apostles needed to know what was to come.

John makes mention that this miracle took place close to the time of the Jewish Passover.   Since Passover served as a memorial of the miraculous deliverance from Egyptian bondage, it’s no wonder the crowd that followed Jesus up the mountainside wanted to make Jesus king by force; they perceived He would be a deliverer in the mold of Moses.

2.  A test question, verses 5—7

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.  Philip answered him, “It would take almost a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Of all the apostles, Philip was known as the “quiet one.”  Perhaps that’s why Jesus turned him to ask a question.  Of course, Jesus was not asking for advice, our Lord knew exactly what to do; His purpose was to draw the “quiet one” out; to make him think.   Philip came from Bethsaida and was apparently acquainted with this region and he would have known where to get food.

John’s account concentrates almost exclusively on the relationship this incident had on the disciples; John seems unconcerned with the uninvited guests that had horned in on their mini vacation.  Both Matthew and Mark mention that Jesus had compassion on the crowd.

And what a crowd it must have been.  Some scholars have estimated there to have been at least 15,000 men, women and children.  Judging by Philip’s response, another miracle was apparently the last thing in his mind!

In fact, we learn something about Philip from his answer to Jesus:  he was very practical man.  Like many believers,  his practicality got in the way of his faith and his imagination.  In many ways, faith is born of imagination.  We can limit God by our limited imaginations, and this seemed to be a problem Jesus recognized in Philip.

The other disciples had their own solutions to the dilemma of feeding thousands of people—

Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.  (Mark 6:36)

Philip, unimaginative though he was, was accurate; there was no way they could have enough money in their treasury to feed all these people!  It would take at least a year to save up enough money.  The disciples, also being practical, told Jesus “just send them away.”  That was another practical response to a crisis; these people were not invited, anyway!  Jesus and the disciples were not obligated to feed them, they could feed themselves.  Luke’s account sheds some light on the Jesus’ inner circle—

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”  He replied, “You give them something to eat.”   They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”  (Luke 9:12, 13)

In this exchange, the disciples sound like elders in some churches:  full of practicality, but little faith.  If ever there was an example of 2 Corinthians 5:7, the story of how Jesus fed these thousands of people is it!

We live by faith, not by sight.

The disciples, like so many Christians, lived by sight and they let what they see determine how much faith they have.

3.  A glimmer of faith, verses 8, 9

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,  “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

While Philip was overly pessimistic, Andrew was positively delirious with optimism!  Many sermons have been preached about this boy, but he is not the interesting person in these verses; it is Andrew that interests us.  How did Andrew know about this boy?  Out of 15,000 persons sitting on the hillside, how did Andrew know about this boy and his lunch?  The answer is simple:  he obviously got out and circulated among the crowd.  He faced the problem head-on, literally. He could have withdrawn, as the other disciples had and clung to Jesus, but this man went out into the very crowd that was causing the problems for Jesus.

We see in Andrew some faith, imperfect, but faith nonetheless.  Andrew saw a possible solution but wasn’t quite sure if it would work or how it would work.

Though not indicated, Jesus must have smiled when Andrew approached Him with this boy.  The quantity of the food was small and the quality not the best.  Barley loaves were known as the bread of the poor, and the two small fish were small, sardine-like pickled or dried fish.

But this is all Jesus needs:  imperfect faith and an impossible situation.

4.  Making something out of almost nothing, verses 10—13

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Jesus took full command of the situation; His disciples were clearly at a loss as to how to best deal with the crowd.  Jesus was the Man with the faith and the vision.  His “committee” was next to useless—“impossible” was the word that best described their chances of feeding all these people.  Sometimes it takes a man or woman of faith to step up and take charge.  Here we see the “mathematics of a miracle”:  5 loaves + 2 fish + Jesus = a  miracle.  This is an equation that always works; it never fails.  Jesus added to any lack or insufficiency in your life will result in a miracle.

The real point of this miracle is not just that Jesus performed a truly remarkable thing, but that God’s provision is abundant; it is never “just enough!”  This is a recurring theme in John’s Gospel—God’s grace is abundant, His gift of the Spirit is abundant, etc.  The people ate as much as they wanted and there was apparently a lot left over.  But not a crumb was to be wasted; the surplus was collected and put in baskets, a basket for each disciple.

This wondrous miracle took place with absolutely no fanfare.  Jesus just kept breaking the bread and the people just kept on eating.

5.  Grabbing a king, verses 14, 15

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

The response of the people who were involved in this miracle was pretty typical—they were excited—and it motivated them to “force” Jesus to be their king.  This shows us that this miracle was not at all appreciated for its true meaning, and it certainly was not understood.   We have to give these people a measure of credit, however; they did equate Jesus was the prophet alluded to by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15, which shows they at least had a knowledge of their Scriptures—

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.

There was a definite undercurrent of expectation among the people that God was going to do something, they just didn’t know what. We might even say that the people had faith!  However, it was faith based on what they had in their minds, not in God.  They made the Scriptures fit their notions of what the Messiah should be like, and the Messiah they wanted was one who would make sure their physical needs were always met.    The people were filled with enthusiasm, yet it was misplaced, and Jesus wisely would have nothing to do with it.

Christians, like Jews, can get very enthusiastic about Christ and their faith, but if it is emotion-based enthusiasm motivated by what you think Jesus can do for you, it’s misplaced.   Our enthusiasm should always be based on the truth of the Word of God; based on who Jesus is and we can do for Him, in terms of our worship and ministry.

These people wanted to make Jesus their king, but His Kingdom is not of this world!   It is wonderful to know that Jesus can and does meet our needs, but our needs are nothing compared to His incomparable greatness, which we so often miss, preferring to measure His greatness against our need.  That makes Jesus a very small Messiah indeed.

The fact that the crowd wanted to make Jesus their king is full of significance and meaning.  He was popular, but popularity is not what Jesus is seeking!  Jesus desires devotion, not a decision based on a feeling or an emotional moment.  Jesus wants to be our King, but the King of our hearts.  His Kingdom in within us.

This stunning miracle, which should have pointed all these people to God and touch all their hearts, had the opposite effect:  it brought out the worst in these people and revealed what was in their hearts.  They were not evil or wicked people, they were just lost, like so many people are today.  They were looking for the Messiah, but they were looking for a Messiah created in their image.  And Jesus would have nothing to do with that.

(c)  2010 WitzEnd

JOHN 13

Published May 4, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Miracles and Unintended Consequences, John 5:1—15

Chapter 5 opens with a wonderful healing but it also opens a new phase in the life of Jesus, for this miracle unleashes the hate of the religious elite on our Lord.  Up till now the Pharisees and other religious leaders had many questions about Christ but generally their hatred was not manifested.  From this point on, however, the hounds of hate would be nipping at Jesus’ heals until His Crucifixion.

This chapter also contrasts the life-giving and life-changing power of Christ with the powerlessness of death and religious ordinances.

1.  A picture of the world, verses 1—5

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

The last time Jesus was in Jerusalem (2:13—22), He was met with stiff opposition and hostility from “the Jews,” John’s way of referring to the “religious types.”  With His second visit, this hostility is powered by volatile hatred, triggered by “the Sabbath controversy,” that is, Jesus’ seeming disregard for the Jewish laws concerning acceptable behavior on the Sabbath.  Lightfoot makes an interesting observation:

Throughout this gospel the greater His work for men, the greater the cost to Himself, and the greater the manifestation of His glory.

Our Lord’s earlier visit to Jerusalem was occasioned by observation of the Passover Feast.  This time Jesus was there to observe another Jewish feast which John does not mention.  In all likelihood, the feast was either the Feast of Tabernacles or another Passover.   Many scholars believe Jesus was back in Jerusalem for another Passover since this was the one feast all Israelites were required to attend.

Though John seems unconcerned with the exact date of this incident, he does give us a lot of details as to time, location, people involved, and tradition.  For centuries the location of this miracle was in doubt, but in 1888 archaeology once again proved the Bible.  The location of this pool near the Sheep Gate, was unearthed and is located near the present site of The Church of St. Anne.   During the time of Jesus, it must have been a beautiful area and it certainly had a beautiful name.  “Bethesda” means “house of mercy.”

Gathered around this pool were all manner of infirmed people, all hoping to be cured of whatever their infirmity may have been.

Did these people have faith that God would heal them?  Why did they gather there?  Had they heard about Jesus’ miracle working power?  The answer to all these questions is “no.”  What brought these poor people to the waters of Bethesda was nothing more than simple superstition.

The earliest and most reliable manuscripts add this bit of information which John almost certainly did not write:

[verse 3]—and they waited for the moving of the waters. [verse 4] From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.

Bible scholars believe those sentences were added some time after John wrote his Gospel.  Tertullian (145—220 AD) was well familiar with why the infirmed gathered there.  He wrote—

An angel, by his intervention, was wont to stir the pool at Bethsaida.  They who were complaining of ill health used to watch out for him; for whoever was the first to descend into these waters, after washing ceased to complain.

Did people really get healed in this pool?  If Tertullian’s words are accurate, and if the copyist’s additions to the Gospel are accurate, then the reason these needy people gathered at this location was based solely on superstition.  God does not heal people if their faith is rooted in superstition.  No matter how sincere a person’s belief may be sincerity in and of itself is not enough.

This is a sad picture of how mankind must appear to God!  How sad and how pathetic must sin-sick human beings appear as we gather around our religions and our superstitions, putting our faith in things and people with no power?  Our idols may not be made of wood and stone, but when we put our faith and trust in anything or any person other than God, we are as bad off as the sick and lame who gathered around this pool.

One who was there that day was an invalid who had been that way for some 38 years.  That’s a long time to be confined to a bed; this man would have been so weak, he would have been unable to stand on his own, let alone walk.  His was a hopeless case.  We are not told how old this man was, but he must have been well on in years.  This poor fellow serves as a type of all human beings.  Though nameless, he is described physically as all people are spiritually:  completely unable to help themselves.

2.  Question and answer, verses 6—7

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”  “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Jesus’ question must have seemed rather naïve to the invalid.  Of course this man must have wanted to be cured!  Why else would he be there?  So, why would Jesus ask such a question?  Before we answer that question, there is another question that needs to be addressed.  John wrote that Jesus had “learned that he had been in this condition for a long time.”  From whom did Jesus learn this?  There are three possibilities:

  • Someone in the crowd may have told Jesus about the man;
  • God the Father may have revealed it to Jesus;
  • Christ’s divine nature may have imparted this information to His human nature in a way we cannot fathom.

So, given that Jesus knew all about this man, why did He ask what sounded like a silly question?  If Jesus knew this man so well, then He also knew that a life of misery and sadness can often exact a terrible toll on a person.  Such a person can become so hardened or used to such a life that they can lose even their will to believe.  Sickness and pain often become old friends to the lonely and depressed.

The poor fellow’s response shows that he had lost his determination.  He was beaten down physically and now he was feeling sorry for himself; he felt like other people were robbing him of the chance to get cured.  Imagine how silly that is:  one lame man jealous of another lame man.   What a sorry state to be in:  he was friendless, he was impotent, and he was struggling.  Even in his weakened state, this man was looking for help, but he was looking in the wrong place; his faith was in tradition, religion, and superstition.

3.  An strange miracle and a break with tradition, verses 8—13

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.  The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”  So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”  The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

What makes this healing so remarkable is that it was not asked for!  The infirmed man did not ask anything of Jesus, and in fact we find out that he didn’t even know who Jesus was!  Furthermore, there is not even a hint that this man had even a trace of faith.  All Jesus did was to give three imperatives in a row:  get up, pick up, walk.  Every one of those things was impossible for this man to do.  Yet he did each one in turn.  How was he able to do them?

This man was the object Christ’s compassion and sovereignty.  And this man may have sensed a glimmer of hope and took Jesus at His word.   Perhaps what we see in this miracle is a combination of God’s sovereignty, Christ’s compassion, and the witness and the empowering of the of the Holy Spirit.  The man responded in the right way, and surely Christ had a hand in that.

The result of the miracle was immediate and two-fold.  First, the man was completely healed.  Second, a controversy ensued.  John mentions that the miracle took place on the Jewish Sabbath.  This actually marks the beginning of a long controversy that would dog Jesus for the rest of His time on earth:  His relationship to the Law and to the religious leaders.   Since this miracle took place on the Sabbath, it resulted in a conflict with the Jewish religious authorities.  Both the one who received the miracle and the One who performed the miracle were in direct violation of the teachings of the Rabbis and their interpretation of the fourth commandment.

The religious leaders confronted the former cripple and we learn something about this man:  he was not particularly grateful or appreciative to Jesus for his healing.  His answers were factual but mechanical.  He also took no responsibility for his actions; he shifted the blame onto Jesus!

John adds a minor detail:  Jesus had simply slipped away and lost Himself in the crowd after the healing. This begs the question:  why?  Some scholars say it was because the time had not yet come for Christ to be brought into full conflict between the Old and the New.  That would have hastened His crucifixion, but God’s timetable was fixed.  But there might have been another reason, demonstrated by what happened next.

3.  Faith revealed, verses 14, 15

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Clearly Jesus had not forgotten this man.  Again, John gives us no idea of how long after the miracle this exchange took place.  One thing is encouraging though:  the man did not go back to the pool; he did not return to his old way of life.  In fact, he went to the best place he could go:  the house of God.

Two things jump off the page.  First, this man was in the Temple.  There was only one reason he would have gone there, and that was to seek God.  Second, Jesus was seeking the man.

At the Temple, Jesus reminded the man of that which he knew:  he was completely well and healthy.  Then He told the man to “stop sinning or something worse may happen to him.”  What did Jesus mean by that?  Was Jesus suggesting that the man’s original condition was the result of some kind sin committed 38 years ago?  Many commentators think this is the case.  The man’s crippled state may have been the result of something the man did, some sin and folly that harmed his body and resulted in his condition.

This may have been the case.  More likely, though, Jesus was referring to the man’s present state of being unreconciled to God.  It is true that his body had been healed, but what of his spirit and soul?  Jesus cautioned the man that physical healing was good, but the state of his soul was more important.  It was vital that this one time paralyzed man should commit his life to God.

It seems that the man did what Jesus had advised him to do.  He went and testified about what Jesus had done for him.  Only one who is deeply committed and devoted to God would do that.  To risk ridicule and persecution at the hands of jealous religious leaders is something only a consecrated follower of Christ would do.

This remarkable healing, then, served its purpose.  The man gave glory to God for the healing, other people were made aware of Christ’s power, and the crisis that would lead to the final confrontation between Christ and the religious leaders was now under way.

(c)  2010 Witzend
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